Washington State: Another Commissioner Up In Flames?

Washington state commissioners have pretty much turned the committee into a 3-ring circus instead of focusing on what they are meant to do, which is to oversee the management of wildlife in this state. My last blog post focused on Commissioner Rowland who recently published an op-ed under the guise of her role on the commission and not as a private citizen. Her counterpart on the commission, Lorna Smith, who has been attacking hunting and scientific management of big game species, has set the bar even lower in recent weeks.  

A recently uncovered memo shows that she was billing the state a rate of $100 a day for her work the WDFW Commission, nearly every day from January 2024 through February 2025, missing only 7 days during that entire time period. That costs the taxpayers over $40,000 for her part-time role on the commission. Thankfully the Conservation Coalition of Washington is watching like a hawk the actions of these commissioners and making the appropriate public records requests to bring these into the light.  

As if billing the state for almost 14 months of daily work was not enough, Lorna Smith last week filed a civil rights lawsuit against two directors of WDFW. The directors are the sitting Director of the Department as well as the Deputy Director. What is interesting is that this lawsuit was filed mere days before the Governor’s investigation into Smith and three other commissioners was set to conclude.   

Needless to say, the results of that investigation have now been postponed with the new lawsuit. There is no doubt that this is a tactic being used to try to stall that investigation and any ramifications from it. 

Speaking of the investigation, a recently unearthed memo from Lorna Smith in August 2025 while being investigated, she urged those involved to speed up the investigation as it had been “damaging” to the ability of the commission to carry out their work, which she mentions includes to “preserve, protect, perpetuate, and manage fish and wildlife and to provide opportunity for fishing, hunting and recreation.”  

That is the first time that she has put emphasis on the opportunity side of things. The hunters and fishers she alienated and who did the digging to find the info to start the lawsuit, are suddenly relevant and now she is all of a sudden trying to appease them.   

It’s time for the circus act to stop! These commissioners must be removed so the commission can get back to its job. 

Stay tuned though because I would bet there will be additional bombshells dropped before the final curtain falls.